Review article: food hypersensitivity and irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome is a common condition but its pathophysiology remains poorly understood. Many irritable bowel syndrome patients give a history of food intolerance, but data from dietary elimination and re-challenge studies are inconclusive. Multiple aetiopathological mechanisms have been postulated. The gut has an extensive immune system but current understanding of processing of food antigens in health and disease is limited. There is no clinically useful marker available to test for food hypersensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers have employed both skin tests and serum immunoglobulins (IgG and IgE) as markers of food hypersensitivity in various disorders including irritable bowel syndrome, but published data are equivocal. In this article, the evidence for the role of food hypersensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome is reviewed and, based on the available data, a possible pathophysiological hypothesis has been formulated.